A Weekend With Al Gore

by | Mar 21, 2019 | LTBLI news and updates

Written by guest author Sarah Dobson

Let There Be Light International’s Executive Director, Sarah Baird, spent 3 days in Atlanta at the Climate Reality Leadership Training with Al Gore and 2,050 activists, advocates, attorneys, educators, and engaged citizens from around the world. Youth leader Sarah Dobson was invited to be LTBLI’s guest blogger on the training. Dobson is a British Environmental Policy Masters student who volunteers as the Operations Coordinator for the UKYCC (UK Youth Climate Coalition).

A Weekend With Al Gore

Last week’s Climate Reality Leadership training, founded by environmental all-star Al Gore, centered on environmental justice and lined up diverse and gender-balanced panels to teach us the importance of equity in the environmental movement.

My Top Five Takeaways:

5. Start with the local

Identify environmental issues in your community. Perhaps focus on a polluted pond or nasty air pollution. Mobilizing people will make them more engaged in wider environmental issues. But, never lose sight of how fighting these issues helps the local community. Switching to solar might give you more control of your energy bills or energy efficiency retrofits might lift the energy burden on communities. Fight like your world depends on it, but start like your neighborhood depends on it.

4. Equity and justice

We are fighting climate change because of systemic inequity and injustice. You can’t just ‘include’ equity and environmental justice. Equity and Justice are the foundation the climate change movement rests upon. This is equally important for the ‘inclusion’ of people of color. You cannot just ‘include’ people who make up the majority of the earth’s population. Check your actions and your privilege and remember that ‘inclusion’ is a right not a favor.

3. Storytelling

Make yourself more engaging by working on your narrative and giving people something to emotionally connect with. For example, don’t say “97% of scientists believe in climate change” say, “If you went to the hospital and the doctor told you to get life-saving surgery, would you get it? What if you went to 100 doctors for a second opinion and 97 told you to get the surgery? Would you get it then?” Even better, tell your authentic story to connect with others.

2. Deomcracy and the Environment

Campaign finance violations are environmental issues. Voter suppression is an environmental issue. Electoral systems which give some communities no power are environmental issues. We need to fight systems of oppression by speaking truth to those in power. The biggest victories of the environmental movement have been when we take democracy back into our own hands. The youth are doing that every time we strike for climate. As Mr. Gore says “It’s great to change our light bulbs, but it’s better to change our laws”

1. Don’t build that which we will have to tear down later

Fighting climate change is our biggest chance to reform our infrastructure, but we must be careful to make this a just transition. If we recreate the same systems of inequity, the same oppression will continue. If fossil fuel companies transition to renewable energy and continue to control access, they will continue to charge high fees and pay low wages to maximize profits. Let’s do the hard work now and use environmental solutions to solve the social problems of our communities!

0 Comments

Solar Solutions in Sub-Saharan Africa

By Jo Stevens Imagine not having light at night to do household activities, homework, or cooking. Unfortunately, this is the reality for 760 million in the world, and 80 percent live in Sub-Saharan Africa. According to the World Economic Forum, energy poverty is the...

Earth Day Every Day

by Jo Stevens Happy Earth Month! Every April, the global community comes together to shine a light on our shared environment and highlight ways to build a healthier, more sustainable world for everyone. During Earth Month, initiatives for environmental outreach...

Advancing Environmental Justice: A Call to Action

Environmental justice isn't just for experts or activists; it's a growing movement open to everyone. It's a way to take action to ensure that all people regardless of race, income, or background, have access to a safe and healthy environment. Originating from...

Shining a Light on an Equitable Energy Transition

By Jo Stevens, 2024 Environmental Justice Associate As politicians, CEOs, and others strive to meet their goals for a fossil fuel-free economy and net-zero emissions, it is important to ensure that this transition is accomplished in a just manner, providing access and...

LTBLI’s 2023 Solar Recap

Millions of people live without access to electricity in Africa - can you imagine? With your help, we’re doing something about that by solar-electrifying health clinics and donating solar lights to families. Below are pictured three of the more than 10,000 mothers who...

We’re Shining On in Rwanda

A guest blog by the co-founders of Shine On Rwanda, an initiative of Let There Be Light International By Leah Weinkle and John Keith. Nearly 1 billion people in the world live with unreliable access or no access at all to electricity and about 600 million off-grid...

A Short Recap of a Long and Bright Journey

Earlier this month, I traveled with LTBLI Founding Board Member (and exemplary husband), Ben, to Uganda for site visits over the course of 9 action-packed days. Unable to travel since March 2020, due to the global pandemic and then an Ebola outbreak in 2022, LTBLI had...

Shine On Rwanda!

Guest Blog by John Keith and Leah Weinkle   Ten years ago a friend of ours here in Denver started a primary school in Rwanda. Hope Haven Rwanda has recently completed the addition of a secondary school and is the top-performing primary school in Rwanda based on...

Sustainable Energy for All

  A guest blog by Caroline Mwebaza of Solar Health Uganda. Sustainable Energy for All A few months ago, I attended the Sustainable Energy for All Forum in Kigali, Rwanda. l traveled from Uganda as a Delegate on behalf of Let There Be Light International (LTBLI)...

My Summer Solar Internship

Hannah Schulman is this summer's Energy Poverty Intern at Let There Be Light International (LTBLI). She is a rising...